Fuel dilution

ABSTRACT

A diluted fuel includes the addition to a base fuel of a volume increasing, non-reactive, inert gas as a diluter. A fuel tank, a tank of diluter and a tank of combustion enhancing additive are arranged to feed their respective products through control valves into an intermediate mixing tank. The mixed fuel is then metered into a tank which includes an interior aluminum mesh to improve the suspension of the diluter within the fuel.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation-in-part of prior co-pending U.S.patent application Ser. No. 10/894258, filed Jul. 19, 2004, which was acontinuation-in-part of prior U.S. patent application Ser. No.10/172,556, filed Jun. 14, 2002.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not Applicable

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to fuels, such as propane,gasoline and the like, used for combustion in engines. Moreparticularly, this invention relates to a method for improving fueleconomy by increasing fuel volume with the addition of a non-reactive,inert diluter to the fuel.

2. Description of the Prior Art

In the prior art, fuel in an undiluted state is typically ignited in thecombustion chamber of an engine where energy is extracted and used tooperate machinery. In a typical automobile, gasoline is pumped from afuel tank, mixed with air in a carburetor, and then ignited in acombustion chamber, thereby powering the engine but leaving extensivepolluting byproducts.

Due to its cleaner combustion, propane has emerged in recent years as acleaner alternative to gasoline for vehicles. Alternatively, CNG(compressed natural gas), methanol, and ethanol are also in use asfuels, but are not considered as effective as propane More recently, inU.S. Pat. No. #5,823,758, FUEL COMBUSTION ENHANCING CATALYTICCOMPOSITION AND METHODS OF FORMULATING AND UTILIZING SAME, there wasdescribed a catalytic fuel additive, known commercially as CGX-4. Bymixing such an additive into a fuel, combustion takes place morecompletely and more effectively, thereby improving combustion efficiencyand reducing pollution.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The object of the present invention is to economize on fuel consumptionand reduce pollution resulting from the combustion of fuels.

These and other objects are accomplished, principally, by diluting afuel with a non-reactive, volume increasing, inert diluter, such asneon, and preferably also adding a combustion enhancing additive.

Additionally, a metallic mesh is employed in the fuel tank to improvethe suspension of the diluter. This metallic mesh is typically anexpanded aluminum sheet that is either formed into multiple packets forinsertion into the tank or otherwise rolled or folded to fit within thetank.

As a consequence of using this diluted fuel, less fuel (whether propane,gasoline, CNG, or other fuel) will be consumed, and this results inimproved efficiency and reduced pollution emissions.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a depiction of one embodiment of the apparatus employed forthe mixing of the diluted fuel in accordance with the method of thepresent invention.

FIG. 2 is an illustration of a portion of an expanded aluminum sheetused to form the aluminum mesh within the tank.

FIG. 3 is an illustration of a packet formed from the expanded aluminumsheet of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is an illustration of a tank (partially cut away) showing packetsof aluminum mesh positioned therein.

FIG. 5 is an illustration of a tank (partially cut away) showingaluminum mesh rolled or folded and positioned therein.

While the invention will be described in connection with a preferredembodiment, it will be understood that it is not the intent to limit theinvention to that embodiment. On the contrary, it is the intent to coverall alternatives, modifications, and equivalents as may be includedwithin the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appendedclaims.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The method and apparatus described herein increases the volume of aliquid or gaseous fuel (e.g., propane, gasoline, CNG (compressed naturalgas), methanol, ethanol) by the suspension of a non-reactive, inertdiluter within the fuel; and this addition of a diluter is, preferably,also accompanied by the addition of a combustion enhancing additive. Aswill be discussed in detail below, the diluter, the additive, and thebase fuel are injected into a tank which, in the preferred embodiment,has an aluminum mesh substantially filling the interior thereof.

The diluter of the present invention comprises a chemically non-reactivediluter which serves to increase the volume of the fuel withoutotherwise chemically affecting the fuel. In the preferred embodiment,the diluter is an inert gas (sometimes referred to as a noble gas), suchas neon, helium, argon, krypton, xenon, and radon; and in the presentinvention neon gas is the preferred non-reactive diluter.

The above-mentioned combustion enhancing additive generally comprises acatalytic composition, such as the CGX-4 additive described in U.S. Pat.No. #5,823,758, entitled “FUEL COMBUSTION ENHANCING CATALYTICCOMPOSITION AND METHODS OF FORMULATING AND UTILIZING SAME”. Thisadditive is a catalytic composition that employs a metal oxide catalystdispersed in an organic carrier; and when it used with the diluted fuelherein, the energy output of the combustion is raised.

Typical apparatus for accomplishing the method of the present inventionfor diluting the fuel is generally depicted in FIG. 1. Particularly, inthe embodiment shown, a tank 12 of the base fuel is arranged to feed apredetermined measured quantity of fuel through its outlet pipe 14 via acontrol valve 16. Similarly, a tank 22 of diluter feeds a predeterminedmeasured quantity of diluter through its outlet 24 by way of a controlvalve 26. Finally, an outlet pipe 32 from a tank 34 of the combustionenhancing additive feeds a predetermined measured quantity of additivethrough a controlled valve 36. In the preferred embodiment, theabove-mentioned control valves are electronically calibrated andelectronically controlled to provide the desired ratio of the volumes ofdiluter and combustion enhancing additive to the volume of the basefuel.

The components of the diluted fuel mixture are finally fed throughpiping 37 to a staging tank 38 where they are combined. From thisintermediate staging tank the diluted fuel mixture is metered to theconsumer's tank 40. Alternatively, the mixture may be injected directlyinto the consumer's tank 40, omitting the intermediate staging tank.

Turning now to FIG. 2 there is shown a portion 50 of an expandedmetallic sheet, the nature of which is well known in the art (see forexample U.S. Pat. No. #3,356,256). In the preferred embodiment a sheetof aluminum is provided with an array of slits and then expanded to formthe expanded sheet 50. Once expanded, it forms a mesh that displays openareas 52 surrounded by aluminum walls 54. When folded or rolled, thismesh forms interior spaces for holding diluted fuel which aresubstantially surrounded by the aluminum walls. A packet 60 of mesh,formed from the folded and/or rolled aluminum mesh of FIG. 2, is shownin FIG. 3. Such packets are described in detail in U.S. Pat. No.#6,604,644.

In accordance with the present invention, the interior of a tank, suchas the tank 40 of FIG. 1, is substantially filled with the fillerpackets 60 (see FIG. 4) or substantially filled with a folded or rolledmesh sheet 70 (see FIG. 5). Similarly, the intermediate tank 38 may,likewise, be provided with an interior filler mesh to improve suspensionof the diluter within that tank. Consequently, when the diluted fuel isadded to either tank, the internal metallic mesh interacts with thediluter and serves to assist in the suspension of the diluter.

From the foregoing description, it will be apparent that modificationscan be made to the apparatus, method, and product without departing fromthe teachings of the present invention. Accordingly, the scope of theinvention is only to be limited as necessitated by the accompanyingclaims.

1. A fuel mixture comprising: a combination of a fuel and a non-reactivediluter suspended in said fuel for increasing the volume thereof.
 2. Thefuel mixture of claim 1 wherein said diluter comprises an inert gas. 3.The fuel mixture of claim 2 wherein said fuel comprises propane and saiddiluter comprises neon gas.
 4. The fuel mixture of claim 1 furthercomprising a combustion enhancing additive having a catalyticcomposition.
 5. The fuel mixture of claim 4 wherein said dilutercomprises an inert gas.
 6. The fuel mixture of claim 5 wherein said fuelcomprises propane and said diluter comprises neon gas.
 7. A tank of afuel mixture comprising: a tank body; a combination of a fuel and anon-reactive diluter within said tank, wherein said diluter is suspendedin said fuel for increasing the volume thereof; and a metallic meshpositioned within said tank body, wherein said mesh acts to improve thesuspension of said diluter within said fuel.
 8. The tank of claim 7further comprising a combustion enhancing additive added to saidcombination of fuel and diluter, wherein said combustion enhancingadditive comprises a catalytic composition.
 9. The tank of claim 8wherein said combustion enhancing additive comprises a metal oxidecatalyst dispersed in an organic carrier.
 10. The tank of claim 7wherein said metallic mesh comprises packets of aluminum mesh.
 11. Thetank of claim 7 wherein said metallic mesh comprises one or more sheetsof aluminum mesh rolled or folded to substantially fill the interior ofsaid tank.
 12. The tank of claim 11 wherein said diluter comprises aninert gas; and further comprising a combustion enhancing additive addedto said combination of fuel and diluter, wherein said combustionenhancing additive comprises a metal oxide catalyst dispersed in anorganic carrier.
 13. A method for preparing a tank with a diluted fuelmixture, comprising the steps of: injecting predetermined measuredquantities of a non-reactive diluter and fuel into a tank, wherein saiddiluter is suspended in said fuel for increasing the volume thereof. 14.The method of claim 13 further comprising injecting a combustionenhancing additive into said tank.
 15. The method of claim 14, whereinsaid tank comprises a tank body having an aluminum mesh positionedtherein.
 16. The method of claim 14 wherein said diluter comprises aninert gas.
 17. The method of claim 13, wherein said tank comprises atank body having a metallic mesh positioned therein to improve thesuspension of said diluter within said fuel.
 18. The method of claim 17further comprising injecting a combustion enhancing additive into saidtank.
 19. The method of claim 18 wherein said wherein said combustionenhancing additive comprises a metal oxide catalyst dispersed in anorganic carrier.
 20. The method of claim 19 wherein said fuel is propaneand said diluter is comprised of an inert gas.